Multimedia players are devices that render combinations of video, audio or data content (“multimedia presentations”) for consumption by users. Multimedia players such as DVD players currently do not provide for much, if any, user interactivity during play of media content—media content play is generally interrupted to receive user inputs other than play speed adjustments. For example, a user of a DVD player must generally stop the movie he is playing to return to a menu that includes options allowing him to select and receive features such as audio commentary or effects, actor biographies, or games.
Interactive multimedia players are hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof that render combinations of interactive content alone or concurrently with traditional video, audio or data content (“interactive multimedia presentations”). Interactive content includes resources such as interactive objects, which are user-selectable visible or audible objects presentable alone or concurrently with traditional video, audio or data content. One or more applications provide instructions for organizing, formatting, and synchronizing the presentation of interactive objects to a user. Although any type of device may be or include an interactive multimedia player, devices such as optical media players (for example, DVD players), computers, and other electronic devices are particularly well positioned to enable the creation of, and consumer demand for, commercially valuable interactive multimedia presentations because they provide access to large amounts of relatively inexpensive, portable data storage.
Applications are generally configured to access various resources, such as functions of an interactive multimedia player (applications may pass data to/from the functions of the interactive multimedia player to provide a wide variety of user experiences, for example), and interactive objects and other resources stored in persistent storage or networks. Unscrupulous application authors or publishers could use certain resource accesses for malicious purposes such as gaining access to confidential user information or introducing dangerous or disruptive programs into interactive multimedia players.
To enhance investment in interactive multimedia players and interactive multimedia presentations, it is desirable that interactive multimedia players protect consumers against execution of potentially malicious interactive content, while providing predictable functionality associated with playing video, audio or data content.